Beaufort County, SC Ordinances (2026)

Beaufort County bans smoking in and on all county-owned or operated facilities, including outdoor property adjacent to and part of those buildings. Private businesses in the…

Beaufort County makes it unlawful to consume or possess alcohol on any public beach in the unincorporated county, with a narrow carve-out for authorized wildlife-rescue personnel on…

Beaufort County criminalizes loitering for illicit drug activity in any public place after a law enforcement warning. Officers weighing whether to warn someone look at signals like…

Beaufort County bans keeping a junked, wrecked or abandoned vehicle visible from any public or private street or from adjacent property. Owners must remove it, garage it, or screen it…

Beaufort County limits stops in a marked "loading zone" to the actual loading or unloading of materials or passengers, capping stops for materials at 30 minutes under Code of…

In unincorporated Beaufort County, you cannot park where a posted "no parking" sign or marker is in place, including signs limited to certain times or days, and you cannot stop, stand…

Beaufort County bans parking or storing heavy trucks over 20,000 GVW and trailers on residential lots countywide, except one commercial truck or semi-trailer cab may sit on a…

Beaufort County requires residential driveways to be at least 10 feet wide and surfaced with materials approved by the County Engineer, with surfacing required to extend all the way…

Beaufort County bans open burning in the unincorporated county except limited yard-debris burning on residential land, allowed only 75 feet from structures or roads and only between 9…

Beaufort County treats retail fireworks facilities as fire hazards: buildings that store or sell them must be noncombustible, sit at least 50 feet from any property line and 500 feet…

Beaufort County exempts campfires and fire pits used solely for recreational purposes from its outdoor-burning restrictions, as long as the fire is kept in a safe manner. That…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 14-44 makes it unlawful to import any venomous reptile or exotic animal into the county. "Exotic animal" covers non-native, zoo-type, or…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 14-43 requires all livestock to be housed with adequate food and water and confined inside a fenced enclosure strong enough to stop escape, and…

Beaufort County bans feeding any wildlife in its designated passive parks, a rule folded into a broader natural-and-cultural-resources section that also bars disturbing, molesting, or…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 14-33 makes it unlawful for any dog owner or custodian to let a dog run at large anywhere off the owner's own property unless it is on a leash or…

Beaufort County does not ban retail pet sales outright: Code of Ordinances § 14-36 bars selling or giving away animals on roadsides, public property, parking lots or at flea markets…

Beaufort County zones veterinary clinics as 'Animal Services: Animal Clinic/Hospital,' a use the Community Development Code permits by right in the T2 Rural Center, T3 Neighborhood…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code bars removing any vegetation from an active bird rookery on a development site, even outside nesting season, and requires an SCDNR- and…

Beaufort County Animal Services (BCAS) permits feral cat colonies free of charge under Code of Ordinances § 14-42. A designated caregiver must apply for a permit for each colony and…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code classifies stand-alone pet grooming as a Personal Service under the size-tiered General Offices & Services use, permitted by right in…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 14-30 defines a restricted dog as a Pit Bull and bars owning, keeping or harboring one without complying with mandatory spay/neuter and…

Beaufort County limits private docks to 300 feet in total length, requires 20 feet of clearance from side property lines, and caps walkway width at four feet. Docks on navigable water…

Beaufort County requires a development or building permit before any development activity begins in a mapped special flood hazard area, under Code of Ordinances § 78-32. The flood…

Beaufort County requires new development and redevelopment in the unincorporated county to meet numeric stormwater quality targets: at least an 80 percent reduction in total suspended…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances Sec. 78-67 requires new construction and substantial improvements in special flood hazard areas to have the lowest floor elevated no lower than the…

Before any clearing, grading or construction touches a natural resource area in unincorporated Beaufort County, the Community Development Code requires a conspicuous four-foot barrier…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances §§ 22-58 and 22-59 let the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority curtail nonessential water use during declared droughts. During an extreme…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code pushes new landscaping toward native, drought-tolerant plants countywide and requires it outright for street trees in the T1, T2, T3 and C3…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code lists rain barrels and cisterns as approved stormwater best management practices for new development, setting a 50-gallon minimum storage…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 38-33 requires owners of improved residential or commercial property in the unincorporated county to cut overgrown grass, weeds and rank vegetation…

Beaufort County requires a Tree Removal Permit before cutting, relocating, or substantially altering a protected tree, under Community Development Code Section 7.2.50. Protected trees…

Beaufort County closes its designated passive parks to the public from dusk until dawn, opening them for daylight use only unless posted signage or an approved contract says otherwise…

Beaufort County requires groups of ten or more people to rent the recreation facility or athletic field they plan to use, and county-sponsored activities and already-approved rentals…

Any street fair, concert, carnival or outdoor assembly in unincorporated Beaufort County expected to draw 200 or more people needs a special event permit from the building inspection…

Beaufort County caps outdoor noise at 60 decibels between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. and at 80 decibels from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., measured with a digital sound meter, under Code of…

Beaufort County treats chronic barking, howling or crowing that disturbs a reasonable neighbor across a property line or shared wall as a public nuisance under Code of Ordinances §…

Beaufort County requires departing aircraft at Hilton Head Island Airport to fly a noise-abatement climb before turning off the runway heading, protecting nearby noise-sensitive…

Beaufort County limits construction staging and plant operations to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. when the site adjoins any residential land use or district, and to 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. everywhere…

When repairing a dilapidated dwelling in unincorporated Beaufort County would cost 50 percent or less of its fair market value, § 74-137 of the Code of Ordinances requires the owner to…

Beaufort County requires owners of improved residential or commercial lots, and any vacant lot next to a residential one, to cut overgrown grass, weeds and rank vegetation before it…

Every solid waste hauler licensed to operate in Beaufort County must advertise and offer a residential curbside recycling program to its customers wherever the county or a municipality…

Beaufort County requires residents to store solid waste and recyclables properly before collection, keep containers clean and free of built-up waste, and bars anyone but the owner, the…

Beaufort County bans dumping or accumulating any solid waste anywhere in the county except at a facility approved by county council or the state's DHEC. Violators face prosecution as…

Beaufort County limits residential trash and recycling pickup to collectors it licenses, franchises, or contracts directly: county-licensed haulers serve unincorporated areas, while…

Beaufort County requires any collector that provides curbside residential trash pickup to also provide curbside collection of recovered materials, the county's term for recyclables, to…

Beaufort County caps curbside yard waste at branches under six inches thick and four feet long, and the material cannot be commingled with garbage. Hired tree contractors, not the…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 62-25 excludes dead animals, construction/demolition debris beyond household quantities, industrial or hazardous waste, and commercial tree-service…

Commercial waste receptacles and refuse collection areas in unincorporated Beaufort County must sit at least 5 feet from side or rear lot lines, stay out of front and street-side…

Beaufort County can order any dwelling repaired, closed or demolished when the county administrator finds it unfit for human habitation under Code of Ordinances § 74-133, whether from…

A Beaufort County unfit-dwelling complaint from five or more residents, or the county administrator's own motion, moves to a hearing set not less than ten nor more than 30 calendar…

Any person may file a Development Code complaint with Beaufort County's Code Enforcement Department under Section 9.4.20; the complaint must fully state the alleged violation and its…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code lists fifteen specific violations at Section 9.2.30, from building or subdividing without permits to removing trees without approval…

Beaufort County requires a county business license for every wrecker service and tightly regulates nonconsensual tows from private property in the unincorporated area, capping release…

Beaufort County requires every pawnbroker to hold a license issued by the county clerk of court before opening for business, tied to one specific address. Operating without that…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code keeps adult-oriented businesses in the unincorporated county at least 1,000 feet from homes, churches, schools, public buildings and day…

Beaufort County bans vehicle repair, rental, sales, or assembly as a home business outright: Community Development Code § 4.2.80.A.1 lists engine and automobile work among the uses…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code keeps tattoo and body piercing facilities at least 1,000 feet from homes, churches, schools, public buildings and day care centers, and 500…

Accessory dwelling units in unincorporated Beaufort County cannot be leased for stays under 30 consecutive days unless the property first obtains a Short-Term Rental Property Permit…

Beaufort County allows one accessory dwelling unit on single-family lots under three acres and two on lots of three acres or more, capping each unit at 1,000 heated square feet in…

Beaufort County caps freestanding sheds and other accessory structures at 30 percent of the principal home's floor area and sets tiered rear setbacks: five feet on lots under 10,000…

Beaufort County's Community Development Department Director can administratively revoke a Short-Term Rental Property (STRP) Permit once a rental has violated the STR ordinance three or…

Short-term rental tenants in unincorporated Beaufort County must park under the county's general off-street parking table, Division 5.5, which Section 4.1.360(C)(1)(b) applies directly…

On unincorporated Daufuskie Island, Beaufort County caps short-term rental occupancy at two adults per bedroom plus two additional adults, with anyone 12 or older counted as an adult…

Every short-term rental in unincorporated Beaufort County needs both a Short-Term Rental Property (STRP) Permit and a business license before it can be advertised or rented, and the…

Beaufort County allows a home business as an accessory use only if it stays incidental to residential use, runs from no more than 1,000 square feet of an accessory structure, is…

Beaufort County caps the extra vehicle trips a home business can add to its street at 20 trips per day, on average, and limits the operator to one business-use vehicle, under Community…

Beaufort County limits a home business to a single non-illuminated yard sign that meets the county's Yard Sign Type standard in Community Development Code § 4.2.80.F. No illuminated…

Beaufort County treats a home daycare serving up to eight clients as a by-right use in nearly every residential zone. The Community Development Code's Day Care: Family Home…

Beaufort County allows solar equipment on roofs, walls, poles, or the ground as an accessory use, but caps roof-mounted systems at the zone's height limit plus panel width and caps…

Beaufort County bans barbed wire, concertina wire, and aboveground electrified fences in every zone, with narrow exceptions for agricultural activity or a Director-approved security…

Beaufort County does not set a stand-alone retaining wall height cap, but if a fence sits on top of a retaining wall or berm, the Community Development Code caps the combined height at…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code lets property owners build a fence directly on the line shared with a neighbor. The same section bars fences that block natural drainage…

Beaufort County caps residential fences at four feet in front and corner side yards and six feet in side and rear yards across its Transect Zones and the C3 Zone, measured from natural…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code zones agriculture and crop harvesting as a permitted by-right use across the rural transect zones and the C3 Neighborhood Mixed Use zone…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code lists six invasive tree species, Chinaberry, Chinese Tallow, Mimosa, Paper Mulberry, Princess Tree and Tree of Heaven, that fall outside…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code names Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissma) an invasive tree species in Table 5.11.100.C, exempting it from the county's specimen and grand…

Beaufort County caps how much of a lot buildings can cover, zone by zone. The T2 Rural Neighborhood zone limits Maximum Lot Coverage to '25% of lot area,' counting 'any and all…

Beaufort County caps building height by transect zone rather than with one countywide number. The T2 Rural Neighborhood zone limits main buildings to 2 stories, the T1 Natural zone…

Beaufort County sets yard setbacks zone by zone under its form-based Community Development Code rather than one countywide number. In the T2 Rural Neighborhood zone the minimums are 35…

Beaufort County bars retail sales from a motor vehicle, trailer, or shipping container anywhere in the unincorporated county under Community Development Code § 4.3.30, unless the sale…

Beaufort County allows sidewalk and parking lot sales only on the same site as the seller's own permanent place of business, under Community Development Code § 4.3.90. A temporary use…

Nonresidential and multifamily development in unincorporated Beaufort County cannot exceed 0.5 footcandles at any lot line next to an existing single-family home, a hard cap set by…

Off-premises signs and billboards in unincorporated Beaufort County cannot have lights added once built unless originally illuminated, and any sign lighting that exists must aim only…

Commercial and multifamily development in unincorporated Beaufort County must use fully shielded, cutoff light fixtures under Community Development Code Section 5.7.40, capping pole…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code defines a "specimen tree" by species and trunk diameter, from 4-inch dogwoods and magnolias to 16-inch live oaks and 24-inch trees of any…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code protects "grand trees," exceptionally large trees of a given species such as 24-inch live oaks or 36-inch loblolly pines, on developed…

Street trees along Beaufort County roads must clear the curb and sidewalk by three to four feet depending on planting method, and thoroughfare buffers along collector and arterial…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code requires every car wash and auto detailing operation in the unincorporated county to run an operational recycled water system that reclaims…

Beaufort County flatly bans new off-premises signs and commercial billboards, and separately prohibits digital displays on any off-premises or billboard sign, so an electronic message…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code caps window signage at 25 percent of a shop front bay and 15 percent of the full shop front, with individual signs limited to 5 feet wide…

Beaufort County lets freestanding political signs go up on private property anytime during an election year, but Community Development Code Section 5.6.60 requires a county sign…

New off-premises and commercial billboard signs, the freeway-facing signage most visible along major corridors, are outright prohibited in unincorporated Beaufort County. Digital…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 18-67 computes each business's license tax off a rate schedule and a NAICS-based class schedule adopted by ordinance (currently Ord. No. 2025/49…

Beaufort County's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) keeps a countywide inventory of historic buildings, structures, objects, cemeteries and sites, including tabby ruins…

Beaufort County treats swimming pools as structures subject to its adopted building codes, and its fee schedule sets a specific inspection charge for pools: $40.00 for a residential…

Beaufort County requires any swimming pool or ornamental pond deeper than two feet, plus every hot tub and spa, to be enclosed by child-resistant fencing at least four feet tall. Gates…

Beaufort County's building official rechecks failed work for free once, under Code of Ordinances § 74-97(f), but charges $25.00 for each additional reinspection caused by a wrong…

Beaufort County requires child day care facilities in the unincorporated county to meet state licensing rules plus local site standards under Community Development Code Section 4.1.60…

Beaufort County adopts the 2021 International Residential Code, International Building Code, and related technical codes, and it is unlawful to erect or construct any building or…

Beaufort County bans camping, sleeping, tent-erecting, campfires and cooking on any county government-owned property or facility grounds under Code of Ordinances § 2-675. The rule…

Unincorporated Beaufort County imposes a 3 percent local accommodations tax on room and campsite rentals to transients, on top of the state's 2 percent tax, collected by the provider…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 22-114 lets the director of public works remove disaster debris, rubble, downed trees, and damaged cars or equipment from public rights-of-way…

Beaufort County waives the maximum density and minimum lot size limits entirely for housing built under its affordable housing chapter in the Regional Center Mixed Use (C5) zone, once…

Beaufort County caps garage and yard sales at 14 total days per calendar year per parcel, and no permit is required. The limit sits in the Community Development Code's temporary uses…